Chapter 170. Birth of a Nephew/Niece
Chapter 170. Birth of a Nephew/Niece
Max frantically said he'd text the location and hung up immediately.
"Th-this is bad, isn't it? W-we need to go, now!"
"Hoon, calm down."
Laila grabbed my shoulders as I scrambled about.
"It's rare for a delivery to happen exactly at 40 weeks. Most births are a little earlier or later than that. At least she's past 37 weeks, so don't worry too much."
Laila explained calmly.
Then she changed her clothes and headed out to the terrace.
"The location... it's that way!"
I immediately scooped Laila up in a princess carry, kicked off the ground, and soared into the sky.
---
The hospital we arrived at was already bustling with people.
Part of it was because it was a large general hospital, but the bigger reason was the birth of an S-rank Hunter's child.
In America, where show business thrives, this news was a juicy morsel for reporters.
"Hoon, the hospital rooftop!"
The front of the hospital was already swarming with people like a colony of ants.
Seeing that, we headed straight for the rooftop.
— Crunch!
The rooftop door was locked for some reason.
Given the situation, I simply smashed it open.
'Well, I could always pay for it later...'
As we stepped inside, Max's characteristically massive frame caught my eye.
He was sitting with his hands clasped, shaking his leg anxiously, his head bowed.
"Max? Where's Emilia?"
He raised his head.
His face looked haggard, as if he had aged several years.
"The nurse said she went to get the epidural..."
Just then.
A nurse approached and asked.
"Are you Emilia's guardian?"
Max shot to his feet at the nurse's words.
He was so tense that he broke the armrest of the chair as he stood up.
The nurse flinched at the sight but soon shook her head and calmly continued.
"It seems her labor will begin around dawn. The mother is currently resting, so the guardian should also..."
"Is Emilia alright?"
"Yes... the actual labor hasn't started yet... so the mother is resting in her room..."
Before the nurse could even finish, Max strode off toward Emilia's room.
Laila and I followed him into the room.
"...?"
Under the calm lighting, Emilia lay on the bed, steadying her breathing.
Her forehead was beaded with sweat from the intermittent contractions.
"Laila, is she going to be okay?"
"Yes, absolutely."
Laila carefully placed her hand on Emilia's belly.
At this, the attending physician cried out in surprise.
"Wh-what are you doing...!"
In that moment, a soft golden light spread from Laila's fingertips.
The light traveled with her breath, and Emilia's breathing soon became steady and stable.
"You're... a Hunter with healing abilities...?"
The attending physician swallowed and asked, and Laila quietly nodded.
He looked over at Max and smiled, as if relieved.
"I see. So that's why you didn't call for a separate Healing Hunter, Hunter."
"There's no more certain healing than this. After all, she's the one who reattached my severed arm..."
The sky, which had been turning red, settled into an ashen gray, and darkness seeped in through the hospital window.
As time passed, the rhythm of Emilia's breathing began to fluctuate irregularly.
"Hhng...!"
She took a deep breath in and let out a long exhale.
Laila remained by her side, silently keeping a hand on her.
"We can't eliminate the pain entirely. If the body can't recognize the reaction it needs to feel during contractions... it could actually become dangerous."
Laila nodded at the doctor's words.
She was only calming Emilia as much as necessary.
"Haa..."
Time continued like that, and when the medical team judged it was time, they moved.
They transferred her to the delivery room, and Max and Laila went in together.
"We're going in with her. Just in case something happens..."
The medical team hesitated for a moment at Laila's entrance but eventually nodded.
---
The hallway outside the delivery room was steeped in silence.
After they went in, I sat in a chair, quietly waiting.
"Ahem..."
Regrettably, my superhuman senses didn't miss the sounds echoing from within.
Emilia's pained cries.
Max's tension-filled stammer.
Laila's composed voice.
And even the hurried conversations and footsteps of the medical staff.
All of it seeped faintly, yet vividly, through the wall.
I stared at the door for a moment, then lowered my head and sighed.
'If Laila had to go through that much pain...'
Someday we would have children too, but just thinking about it made me a little reluctant.
A child would of course be precious to me, but my spouse was even more precious.
'Should I... put it off a little longer...?'
Laila seemed to really want one though...
As I continued to worry about the distant future (?),
the LED light above the delivery room door turned off.
The door opened, and Max and the medical team carefully wheeled a mobile bed out.
Upon it lay Emilia, her face pale but peaceful, and in her arms was a newborn baby wrapped in a warm cloth.
Max was glued to her side, following along with a fidgeting, restless face.
'She was born safe and sound...'
"She's a beautiful little princess!"
Laila, who had sidled up next to me, said with a bright smile.
"..."
I quietly looked at Laila.
Without a word, for a long time.
Feeling my gaze, Laila tilted her head.
"What's the matter?"
"Just... because you're beautiful..."
"Oh, come on..."
At that moment, Max returned.
His eyes were a little red, but his expression was filled with deep emotion.
"Thank you, everyone... this was all a first for me..."
"Well, it's every dad's first time."
Max bowed his head.
"Would you like... to see her?"
We followed Max into the hospital room.
There was the wrinkly face of a newborn baby, just a few hours old.
Emilia was propped up against the bed, carefully holding the child.
"Hehe, thank you... I was a bit out of sorts earlier..."
She said with a grin.
I cautiously approached and looked at the baby.
A small, delicate existence.
"What a relief..."
Before I knew it, a chuckle escaped me.
"It seemed like she didn't take after her dad; she looks like her mom... she's going to make the boys cry someday..."
At those words, Max burst out laughing despite his tired face.
Emilia smiled too.
"Would you like to hold her?"
At that, Laila carefully took the baby into her arms.
Honey was practically dripping from her eyes.
"She's so pretty..."
---
The child of an S-rank Hunter.
It was always a matter beyond simple family joy.
If even a celebrity giving birth made the news, then an S-rank Hunter?
[ The Undisputed Strongest S-rank, Blessed with a Daughter ]
Breaking news captions from major American broadcasters spread across the airwaves.
[ Guild Master and His Capable Secretary, Finally Bear Fruit? ]
Meanwhile, another outlet attracted clicks with such a sensationalized title.
The influence could be felt both inside and outside the hospital room.
Mountains of flowers, gifts, luxury fruit baskets, and handwritten letters poured into her room.
Everything from organic food to medicinal herbs was arriving in a parade of parcels, all sent with someone's sincerity.
Among the crowd, some people's eyes were drawn in another direction.
Two familiar figures seen in front of the delivery room that day.
To anyone watching, they didn't seem like uninvolved bystanders, and the act of flying through the sky to arrive directly sparked a variety of interpretations online.
'Had Song Hoon finally entered the American market...?'
The provocative articles and imagination drew high view counts and comments, even though they weren't true at all.
Someone asked, 'Is Max getting naturalized?', while another interpreted, 'This was Song Hoon laying the groundwork to acquire U.S. citizenship,' producing all sorts of speculation.
Of course, all of it was baseless conjecture.
---
And at that same time.
We confirmed Emilia was stable and came back home.
"..."
"..."
And so the two of us just sat there quietly, without a single word.
We were both silent, as if we each had a lot on our minds.
Then, Laila came up beside me and asked in a suggestive voice.
"Hoon, the baby was really, really pretty, wasn't she?"
"She was..."
"Emilia looked incredibly happy too."
Laila's loaded questions.
There was no way I couldn't tell.
Even though Laila pretended otherwise, she really wanted a child.
"..."
My head felt complicated.
'I wondered what Mom and Dad were up to...'
Judging by the time, they were probably at home...
I should go get some fresh air.
---
"Hmm..."
About an hour had passed since Song Hoon said he was going out for some fresh air.
The quick-witted Laila knew very well why Song Hoon was acting that way.
'Was Hoon still not ready?'
The look in Song Hoon's eyes as he gazed at Emilia's child.
There was definitely a feeling of envy in those eyes.
Yet, there was also a small hint of fear.
"Puhuhu..."
Her Hero, worrying about something like this.
Their future, when they would someday have a child.
It was merely a matter of time; they would surely have a child and build a happy family.
"Really cute..."
Today, Laila had prepared an event for her boyfriend.
It was an outfit permitted (?) only to 'married women.'
— Diririk.
One of the best things about this house was that you could tell when someone had arrived from the first floor.
— Beep beep beep.
Soon, the sound of Song Hoon entering the door lock passcode could be heard.
At the sound, Laila grinned from ear to ear and waited in front of the entrance.
"Uh...!?"
"Hoon, you're back?"
"Uh, th-that... uh...? That outfit?"
She leaned a hand against the front door and smiled with seductive eyes.
"Young moms with babies wear these kinds of clothes a lot, don't they?"
"...?"
Saying so, she gently held out both hands to Song Hoon and embraced him.
And then, she brushed her breath against Song Hoon's ear and whispered.
"I wouldn't mind at all... if you made me a mommy...♥"